Tall & Urban News

If all goes according to plan, Giussepe Moscarino, an Italian veterinarian, will invest KSh28 billion (US$275 million) in the construction of a skyscraper in Watamu, Kenya. If completed, it will be one of Africa’s tallest buildings.

Dubbed Palm Exotjca, the 61-story structure will rise to a height of 380 meters.

When completed, it will have upstaged Pinnacle Towers, a planned KSh20 billion (US$197 million) complex in Nairobi, which will host a Hilton Hotel.

According to a brief in the Palm Exotjca’s online brochure, Moscarino will turn the 2.4-acre (1-hectare) Gede/Kirepwe ‘B’/369 piece of land along Turtle Bay Road in Dabaso into a “[recreational area] for all ages and personalities.”

The building will consist of 270 hotel rooms including presidential suites, 180 serviced luxury apartments, penthouses, a nightclub, casino, cinema, and retail space. It will also sit several hundred meters from the beach. The developer, however, has proposed to connect the edifice to a beach bar via a skyway.

Watamu is a small village where locals make a living working in local hospitality establishments. The construction of the tower could present new opportunities for employment.

“We can’t wait for the Palm to be constructed,” said Mike Karisa, a local taxi driver, at a public hearing for the building.

“They gave us forms to indicate whether we want the project or not. We all ticked the right boxes to approve the project. Our people will get jobs during the construction phase and beyond,” he added.

However, before the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) can fully consider the application, questions have been raised about the project’s viability. Government agencies, environmental groups, marine experts, and businesses in the area have voiced their reservations through letters and memorandums to the County Government of Kilifi and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, under which NEMA lies.

Their concerns relate to the project’s impacts on the nearby marine ecosystem and lack of adequate facilities such as water, power, and roads to serve the project during the construction and operation phase.

"How do you construct such a high tower on such a tiny piece of land? Where will the other requisite amenities such as parking to serve a 61-story building sit? Our stance remains that this tower should not be built here.”

In a letter to Environment Cabinet Secretary, Keriako Tobiko dated 4 June 2019, Tourism and Wildlife CS Najib Balala cited several laws that he said prohibit the construction of such tall structures next to beachfronts as they pose “both ecological and environmental challenges to the delicate marine ecosystem.”

In what he termed as his ministry’s “strongest objection” to the proposed construction, Balala suggested that such a building was best suited in a dense city, while most buildings in the Watamu region have a height of no more than three stories.

“This is, therefore, to seek your indulgence and request that the proposed project be halted and possibly relocated to another place on the hinterland, possibly in Malindi town,” wrote Balala.

Regardless of how NEMA decides on this matter, Balala insists his ministry’s stance regarding the proposed construction has not changed.

Speaking after an event to mark the International Anti-Corruption Day at Nairobi National Park on 9 December 2019, Balala said the environmental body must fully address all the issues raised before any decision can be made.

“How do you construct such a high tower on such a tiny piece of land? Where will the other requisite amenities such as parking to serve a 61-story building sit? Our stance remains that this tower should not be built here,” he said.

On 12 July 2019, another letter from the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning to Kilifi County’s Department of Lands, Housing, Physical Planning, and Urban Development poked holes in the ESIA report’s “inadequacy” in addressing infrastructure issues, including an impact assessment on increased human and vehicular volumes.

In the letter, Augustine Masinde, the national director of physical planning cited several planning regulations that were not put into consideration when the ESIA report was submitted.

These include the Survey Regulations of 1994, Building Code (2009), Physical Planning Regulations (Building and Development) (Control) Rules of 1998 and County Governments Act number 17 of 2012.

“We advise that you suspend the approval of the proposed development to allow proper review and audit to establish its sustainability,” he said.

Apart from government agencies, local conservation agencies, business groups, and resident associations have also voiced their concerns about the project.

In one of its many letters to NEMA on behalf of eight local organizations, Watamu Association said they were not able to present their side of the story at the public hearings due to what they termed as hostile sentiments from the project’s proponents.

The organizations claimed the project is out of character for the area and will fundamentally change and dominate the skyline, destroying the area’s outstanding beauty.

In addition, they said, the county government of Kilifi cannot fulfill the water and sewerage needs of residents, let alone those needed during the construction and operation of the building.

Should the finances and technical aspects fail after the start of the project, the residents fear what they call the “leaning tower of Watamu,” or an incomplete building that will forever scar the area.

“Let it be known that residents and interested groups are not opposed to the project just for the sake of it. In fact, we want sustainable projects that uplift the economic state of residents. We just want all pertinent issues raised regarding the project of this magnitude to be fully addressed by the authorities concerned,” says Wanyee Kinuthia, a land, environment and natural resources consultant based in Watamu.

Three consultants contracted by Palm Exotjca submitted the ESIA report in May 2019. Ordinarily, NEMA should issue a license within 45-90 days after the submission of such a report.

“We are still processing it and we have not made a decision yet. We can always request an extension because it is a big project and may take some time. However, I may not be in a position to give any time frame,” said Marrian Kioko, head of the EIA unit at NEMA.

For more on this story, go to The Standard.